Turning means returning: the assembly theme and the churches' solidarity with women - "Turn to God - Rejoice in Hope": Unfolding the Eighth Assembly Theme

Ecumenical Review, The, April, 1998 by Irja Askola

Four voices, four faces of women who have made the journey of the Ecumenical Decade of Churches in Solidarity with Women (1988-1998), come to my mind when I survey the contemporary church scene:

-- "Enough is enough. The church has no meaning, no space in my life anymore."

-- "My God is like a good mother to me - a source of nurture and encouragement -- and my church is in my house, with my friends; it has nothing to do with a building or a structure."

-- "Yes, it is an ongoing struggle, sometimes two steps forward and one step back, but I am not giving up. Sharing with sisters keeps me moving. I am not going to leave the church to men; the church is mine, too."

-- "Feminist theology is a luxury for me. I do not care if God is called `she' or `he'. In my daily struggle for survival, it is enough for me that God exists."

These four voices illustrate the groupings which define the reality of women in their relation to the church. There are more and more women who find it difficult to continue to support their churches. Doctrines or practices, negative personal experiences with the clergy or lack of resonance with their own daily life cause them to leave the church -- some with pain and hurt feelings, some as a natural and logical move in their own development. At the same time, one finds a growing number of new forms of women's spirituality and religious activities, independent of the established churches. The growth of feminist theology, spiritual poetry, women's networks and support groups is still ignored or considered a threat by most of the established churches, while being recognized by some individual church leaders as enriching, necessary, complementary. The Decade has encouraged women who are part of official church structures to become better organized and recognized; and in some countries the changes in agenda and approach of women's committees have been remarkable.

However, the aims of the Decade are still unknown and alien to many churches and even to women's groups. In Europe this is especially true in the eastern parts of the continent. The very same issues and emotions which form the soil and inner motivation for feminists in Western Europe are present in Eastern Europe, but the vocabulary and cultural mind-set mean that the Decade seems not to meet the needs there.

All in all, despite progress and positive developments, the Decade has primarily supported women in their work with other women and confirmed the solidarity of women with their churches, rather than causing churches to be in solidarity with women.

Ecclesiology needs to be reconsidered

Analysis of the material which has come out of the Decade shows clearly that during the process there has been a shift from a justice approach (social ethics) to an ecclesiological approach. We have entered into the heart of theology, challenging the self-understanding of the church and dealing with its very nature. In women who reject the established churches, formally or in practice, one can often see a need for faith, not a lack of it. Out of women's pain and frustration grows the inner strength to listen to the divine in themselves, to exercise their own spirituality, to belong to a supportive and caring community, to promote social justice together with others. In these actions we recognize the longing for a church, not the contrary. In theological terms, one can say that the body of Christ is seriously broken if these phenomena, these expressions and reasons are ignored, silenced or even made the subject of accusations. These are not just women's concerns; they are concerns which have to do with the strength and well-being of the whole community, of the whole church.

This fact should draw the attention of theological leaders of the churches and induce them to reopen and reactivate discussion and study of ecclesiological and anthropological issues. After all, is it not an old tradition of the churches to intensify their study of controversial issues rather than ignore them? And one serious theological issue of our time, which is very much reflected in today's debates concerning the participation of women, is the very nature of the church.

It is also a tradition of the churches to give special attention to those who are suffering. The presence of different levels of pain, frustration and rejection of women in the churches -- often overlooked -- is one of the obvious findings of the Decade and points to a clear need for serious theological discussions on these matters. After the Decade we will no longer speak of women's issues only as a matter of justice, but rather in the context of the self-understanding of the church of today, which is an issue for the whole community.

And so we turn to God... by returning to the road where Jesus struggled. In our encounters with church leaders we remember the Canaanite woman (Matt. 15:21-28) as one of our fore-mothers. It was not easy for her either. How difficult it was for her to make her point heard, to be understood, to be taken seriously! Jesus had other priorities and good theological arguments. His loyalty to the tradition and to his own mandate gave him a natural right to silence her, to leave her alone in her pain, to wish he had never met her on his journey. But she does not leave him alone. All her emotions and all her intellect come face to face with his embarrassment and his doctrinal logic. There is a dialogue, in which both of them learn something. Did she know before how strong she was, that she could be the equal in an argument of a man she did not even know and with whom she was not supposed to speak? Had he ever experienced a challenge from a woman? Had he known before how it feels to change one's own mind?